NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR A World Peace Tax Fund 2111 Florida Avenue NW⚫ Washington DC 20008 Telephone (202) 483-3752 STATEMENT BY DELTON FRANZ, CHAIRPERSON OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL Despite overwhelming evidence that in this nuclear age the use of force to settle international disputes would be as disastrous for the victor as for those vanquished, this nation continues to rely almost exclusively on military power for national security. Yet non-violent measures are known to be not only safer but far more effective. Federal aid should therefore be made available for peace education, peace research and other projects that would encourage greater reliance on non-violent ways of protecting our national interests. If Congress decides to establish a Peace Academy as a means of fostering non-violent approaches, one way of financing it might be to use the tax dollars that conscientious objectors to war are now forced to pay for military pro ̈grams. A conservative estimate of the taxes that members of the Peace Churches and other pacifists now pay for war, in violation of their deepest religious and moral principles, is $200 million annually. Thre is some evidence to indicate that the amount may be over $4 billion annually. A bill, the World Peace Tax Fund Act (HR 4897) is now pending in the House Ways and Means Committee. This legislation would permit taxpayers who are opposed to war on religious or moral grounds to put the military portion of their tax dollars into a Fedan 1 Trust Fund to be used only for peace projects. By passing this law, Congress could grant to pacifist taxpayers the First Amendment protection that is now denied them and at the same time provide Edderal aid for projects designed to protect ALL taxpayers from the hazards inherent in our present reliance on military power. NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR A World Peace Tax Fund 2111 Florida Avenue NW Washington DC 20008 Telephone (202) 483-3752 CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION FOR TAXPAYERS TOO? Under the Selective Service Act, draft-age young men whose conscience does not permit them to fight in the army can serve their country by doing alternative work. If a bill sponsored by a group of Representatives passes, the same kind of option would be open to taxpayers whose conscience rebels at having their money spent to make war. The objector's taxes would not be reduced; the portion going for war purposes would be spent for peace instead. The World Peace Tax Fund Act, H. R. 4897, would allow a taxpayer conscientiously opposed to war to have the percent of his/her taxes which would otherwise go for military purposes assigned to a World Peace Tax Fund set up within the government as a trust fund. This money would be used for such activities as research on non-military solutions to international conflict; disarmament efforts; international exchanges; improvement of international health, education and welfare; and information programs about such activities. A Board of Trustees, composed of individuals who have shown a consistent commitment to world peace and intemational friendship, would advise Congress on appropriations to be made from the World Peace Tax Fund. Not Taxpayers who are conscientiously opposed to war are now forced to violate their beliefs by sharing in war through tax payments or to violate the law by refusing to pay taxes owed. There is considerable precedent for changing this requirement. only does the Selective Service Act recognize and accomodate the beliefs of conscientious objectors, but certain religious groups have been exempted from Social Security taxation because they are conscientiously opposed to insurance. Representative Ronald V. Dellums (D-Calif.) has introduced the World Peace Tax Fund Act, with the following co-sponsors: Bella S. Abzug (D-N.Y.), George Brown Jr. (D-Calif.), John L. Burton (D-Calif.), M. Robert Carr (D-Mich.), John Conyers Jr. (DMich.), Charles C. Diggs Jr. (D-Mich.), Robert F. Drinan (D-Mass.), Don Edwards (DCalif.), Walter E. Faun troy (D-D. C.), Michael J. Harrington (D-Mass.), Augustus F. Hawkins (D-Calif.), Henry Helstoski (D-N.J.), Robert W. Kastenmeier (D-Wis.), Paul N. (Pete) McCloskey Jr. (R-Calif.), Helen S. Meyner (D-N.J.), Parren J. Mitchell (D-Md.), John (Joe) Moakley (D-Mass.), Robert N.C. Nix (D-Pa.), Edward W. Pattison (D-N.Y.), Benjamin S. Rosenthal (D-N.Y.), Garner E. Shriver (R-Kansas) and Fortney H. (Pete) Stark (D-Calif.). Dr. David R. Bassett, a Quaker of Ann Arbor, Mich.; Joseph L. Sax and G. Joseph Vining, members of the University of Michigan Law School faculty; and Michael P. Hall, a law student there, were among those drafting the bill. It has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee, of which Rep. Al Ullman (D-Ore.) is Chairman. For more information about the bill, contact the National Council for a World Peace Tax Fund, 2111 Florida Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20008; (202) 483-3752. 2/76 THE WASHINGTON POST, SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 1976 Colman McCarthy Taxes, Conscience and the Military Budget The current debate in Congress on military spending comes at a moment when the subject is anything but another remote "Washington issue" to the citizens. We have just passed through the agonies of April 15. So taxpayers who are worried about mililary outlays are more than usually aware that one part of the government is taking their money and another part is about to spend it on weapons, arnies and preparedness for war. But what of the citizen, moved by his conscience rather than by the arguments of a Ronald Reagan or James Schlesinger, who doesn't want his money being used for weapons designed to kill or inflict suffering? Or what of the citizen whose conscience, after much reflection, tells him that national security is less a matter of military might than of having adequate housing, employment, education and health care? For this citizen, to pay tax money to a government that pays out so much to remain the world's number one military power is to deny his conscience. What should he do-pay no taxes and break the law or live in proverty so that he has no taxble income? A solution exists. It is the World Peace Tax Fund bill currently before the House Ways and Means Committee. That recent hearings were held at all on this legislation is a minor victory, suggesting that at least the bill's sponsors are not being dismissed as peacenik dreamers or anti-American rebels whom the FBI should burglar. ize. It is clear that the legislation has little chance of passage this year, but that is not necessarily a reflection on its worth; Congress after Congress has turned away legislation for such widely supported ideas as handgun control, summer camp safety, land use reform or strip mine control. Yet the "defeated" issues persist. The idea of giving citizens tax relief for their conscientious objections to war is likely to be around for a long duration. When the World Peace Tax Fund Act was first introduced in the House in 1972, it had 10 sponsors. In 1973, it was reintroduced by 12 members and in 1975 by 23. Although the tax laws have had any number of loopholes and dodges writ ten into them over the years by the Ways and Means Committee, the pur pose of the current legislation is to allow the citizen to redirect his taxes, not avoid them. The amount of money involved would be an estimated $4 billion, based on the figure of less than one per cent of approved conscientious objectors during the Vietnam war. The money would be used by government or non-government agencies researching or evaluating non-violent solutions to international conflict, disarmament efforts, international exchanges for peaceful purposes. Distributing tax money for peace rather than weapons would be a comparatively new experi ence for America, but outlets are surely available. When a Georgetown University teacher, Rev. Richard McSorely, testified before the Ways and Means Committee, he said that at his school "the ROTC program brings $450,000 in federal aid, while only $25 is spent on peace studies." The current budget for the Department of Defense is more than $110 billion, while the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency receives only $10 million. By amending the IRS code, the bill would give a measure of relief to those citizens who must now violate their be liefs via their tax payments. Rep. Ronald V. Dellums (D-Calif.), the bill's original sponsor, explains that, "like the exemption from payment of the Social Security tax, the proposed tax accommodation for conscientious objectors is based on religious and conscientious belief. The conscientious objector to war has a compelling justification for the special tax status he seeks. His concern is fundamental. He asks not to be forced to join in the deliberate killing of his fellow men. His desire not to participate in war and killing through any means, including taxation, is based upon a widely ac knowledged religious and moral princi ple. Observance of the principle is es sential to the integrity of the individual. By forcing the conscientious objec tor to war to contribute to military spending, Congress presently forces him to violate his conscience and severely denies his right of religious freedom." It isn't known how many Americans would take advantage of this legisla tion. The notions of millions of citizens NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR A suddenly telling the IRS that they are What may be needed is a new defini- prisons, unemployment lines, unpol iced streets, malnourished children- Sand Toler. By Sand Toler for The Washington Post eral money available for desperate social needs. While the nation continues to decay. political leaders continue to tell Americans that more money is needed for the military. The individual who is unpersuaded by such talk, and wants nothing to do with the value system that supports it, has little choice at the moment but to give the IRS his tax money and see much of it being appropriated for defense. The idea behind the World Peace Tax Fund bill is based on first amendment rights (freedom of religion), but it also has to do with the complaints of a growing number of citizens who are convinced their government is wantonly wasting money on military needs. The legislation is by no means the total answer to converting swords into plowshares. For one thing, any money denied the Defense Department by this bill would likely be made up-by Congress from the taxes of non-ob jecting citizens. But if the bill deserves to be taken seriously it is not because it takes on the entire military ethic at once, but for the opposite reason. It concentrates specifically on one small national issue: the individual's informed conscience. For some, to refuse to pay taxes to the Defense Department is not anti-military. It is pro-conscience. World Peace Tax Fund 2111 Florida Avenue NW Washington DC 20008 Telephone (202) 483-3752 SINCE MARCH 13, 1975, MR. NIX OF PENNSYLVANIA, MR. SHRIVER OF KANSAS, FATHER DRINAN OF MASSACHUSETTS, MR. MCCLOSKEY OF CALIFORNIA, AND MS. MEYNER OF NEW JERSEY HAVE BECOME CO-SPONSORS OF THE WORLD PEACE TAX FUND BILL. NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR A World Peace Tax Fund 2111 Florida Avenue NW Washington DC 20008 Telephone (202) 483-3752 RELIGIOUS SUPPORT FOR THE WORLD PEACE TAX FUND BILL Many religious leaders, religious groups, and religious thinkers have registered support for the World Peace Tax Fund Bill. Following are some statements of support from national bodies of religious organizations: Quakers: "We urge provision for alternative peaceful uses of taxes paid by persons who oppose war on grounds of conscience." Policy Statement approved by the General Committee of the Friends Committee on National Legislation, February, 1972. World Peace Tax Fund is a priority issue for concern of FCNL, Friends Committee on National Legislation. From Friends Peace Testimony "Friends are called: To consider seriously the implications of our employment, our investments, our standard of living, and our payment of taxes as they relate to war making. 6 Nine Yearly Meetings of the Society of Friends (Quakers) have gone on record in support of the WPTF Bill Lake Erie, Ohio (Conservative); Pacific; Iowa (Conservative); New York; Baltimore; Philadelphia; Illinois; South Central (Oklahoma and Texas); and also Southeastern Yearly Meeting. Catholics: "We encourage legislative efforts which offer citizens, who object for reasons of conscience to paying taxes to support military programs, the option of allocating a portion of their tax payment to fund peace and development-oriented programs. Statement distributed in 1973 by the Division of World Justice and Peace, U.S. Catholic Conference. Brethren: "We recommend that both the denomination and individual Brethren give strong and active support to appropriate legislation providing alternative tax arrangements for peaceful purposes for those conscientiously opposed to war." Statement issued by Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, June 1973. Concerning Reconciliation and Peace. A focal concern of the Brethren, this doctrine involves the reconciliation of men to God and to their fellowmen. Upon this doctrine a significant part of the church's program of Christian service has been based. The church holds officially that war is contrary both to the teachings and to the spirit of Christ.... From the Church of the Brethren by Ora W. Barber, General Brotherhood Board: Church of the Brethren. Mennonites: "We are accountable to God for the use of our financial resources and should protest the use of our taxes for the promotion and waging of We stand by those who feel called upon to resist the payment of that portion of taxes being used for military purposes." war. Excerpts from "Way of Peace" Declaration passed at Triennial Conference of the General Conference Mennonite Church, August, 1971. Whereas, we as Mennonites, with our traditional belief in non-resistance, are also opposed to monetary support of war. Therefore, be it resolved that our Church, in annual district conference assembled, express our sincere support for the World Peace Tax Fund Act. From Resolution passed by Central District of the General Conference of Mennonites, April 17, 1973. '...our wealth and taxes contribute to a world of war and suffering.... |